Hiked up in the rain this morning on the Van Hoevenberg Trail from South Meadows. Lots of snow left over from the past couple weeks, but the past few days of 40-50F weather has started to melt it. Lots of water on the trail and off and lots and lots of ice, especially from Indian Falls and onward. Crampons (or microspikes) are necessary, in my opinion.

The summit was covered in clouds, with high winds and sideways rain, so I didn't get to see any of the view :( Wouldn't you know it, on the way back down the skies cleared and the sun came out. Better late than never, right?

Got a pre-dawn start from the Adirondack Loj and made it to the top by 10:30am. A few minutes after reaching the summit, a thunderstorm rolled through so we quickly left and began our descent. I gotta say, being on top of an exposed summit with thunder all around you is absolutely terrifying!

Climbed Marcy with a steady rain to begin, and then some thunder and touch of lightning. waited below tree line for the storm to pass and reached the summit to see low clouds lifting off the peaks.. the sun began to show through but was quickly replaced by more clouds and cool drizzle. We caught the summit at probably the best moment of the day and I'm thankful for that. Great Peak, only one other couple up top when I arrived. #19

A very long hike on a crystal-clear summer day. Once above the treeline, the views were incredible. Started early morning so we had plenty of time to lounge once we summited - plenty of company up there too. Back down by dinnertime

Dan and I started from the LOJ at 7:00 a.m. It was 5 degrees and we had no hopes of it getting any warmer. We bagged Skylight first and went on to route find the well hidden path of Gray. We just about turned around but finally found the top. Went on to the summit of Marcy and moved off just in time for it to sock in. Fun hard day. Thank you Dan for helping me with the Adirondack 46! Hiked in again with Vikram on November 18, 2009.

Almost the entire Van Hoevenberg trail up this mountain is covered in streaming water, puddles or mud, not to mention a few brook crossings (during spring anyway)... makes for a nice and messy adventure!

For a full trip report with photos, you are welcome to visit my website: Peak Fever

Brought my friends out to the Upper Works trail head and we decided to tackle this trek starting around 2pm.(very late) Little food and limited water, it turned out to be a great challenge. Half of the group turned back 2 miles in and the rest of us hiked ~11 miles (one way) and made it to the top by sunset(which was beautiful) My puggle Gizmo also came up with us. The night hike back down was even more fun and we didn't make it back the the cars until just about sunrise. Excellent memorable time!